E-Cigarettes Seeping Into The Unknown

In the past few years, e-cigarettes/e-vapors have taken the world by storm and no one really seems to know what to do about it. This post is going to explore some observations our team has had in regards to this new phenomenon.

In February 2014, the Young Adult Leadership Team and the Youth Action Committee came together to learn specifically what complications are arising and more importantly what questions are left in the air. During the meeting, we have learned that in the past few years’ more and more young people have begun vaporizing tobaccoless products that mimic the act of smoking. Through our conversations, it has been our experience that e-cigarettes are being given away for free to people at nightclubs; they’re available and visible behind the counter with a direct connection to the cigarettes that are hidden around them; young people are using them because they taste good; some people are using them for the purpose of couture; some people are using them as a replacement to cigarettes. To date, according to our sources, there have been no specific findings that e-cigarettes are harmful but we are nowhere near being in a position to recommend them as a healthy alternative to using traditional tobacco products. What is confirmed is that there is not one single brand of e-cigarettes that has “passed” the cessation product test with any government. One cannot rule out the fact that we could simply be going backwards in the entirety of this phenomenon. Do you remember when cigarettes were visible behind counters, or people openly smoked them in restaurants and bars and casinos and bingo halls, or when people smoked them in their cars with their children or shopping malls…do you remember when doctors actually recommended cigarettes? All of these are true because we did not have the knowledge then that we have now in regards to the issues cigarettes cause to the smoker and to those around them not to mention to high cost within our health system. So that’s really the biggest issue right now is that what we know now is that e-cigarettes currently contain products with effects that are currently unknown and that’s something to consider when mindlessly vaporizing for the purpose of fun, curiosity or the cool factor and on an equally serious note, it’s really not the right answer for a cessation tool. At the end of the day, we could really be moving backwards, eh?